In the summer of 2027, the Bay of Naples will become the center of the sailing world. The Italian government, in collaboration with Emirates Team New Zealand and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, has officially confirmed Naples as the host city of the 38th edition of the America’s Cup. For the first time ever, both the Louis Vuitton Cup and the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Match will be held in Italy.
For anyone who has spent time on the water in this gulf, watching the light shift across Vesuvius at dusk or rounding the cape of Posillipo with Capri on the horizon, this announcement feels less like a surprise and more like an overdue recognition. The Bay of Naples was made for this.
This guide covers everything you need to know about the event: its history, the competing teams, the boats, the full calendar, how the venue is being transformed, and how to experience the races in the way they deserve to be seen: from the water.
The world’s oldest sporting trophy, explained
How the America’s Cup began
The America’s Cup was first contested in 1851, making it the oldest trophy in international sport, predating the modern Olympic Games by 45 years. A syndicate of New York businessmen built the schooner America and sailed her across the Atlantic to race against British yachts around the Isle of Wight. The silver trophy she won was later donated to the New York Yacht Club on the condition that it be forever placed in international competition.
The trophy was not named for the United States, but for the winning boat itself. It predates the FIFA World Cup by 79 years, the Davis Cup by 49 years, and even hockey’s Stanley Cup by 42 years. When Queen Victoria, watching from the Royal Yacht, asked who was in second place as America crossed the finish line, she reportedly received the answer: “There is no second, Your Majesty.” The phrase has followed the cup ever since.
132 years of American dominance, and what ended it
From 1870 to 1983, the United States defended the cup 24 consecutive times: the longest winning streak in the history of any sport. In 1983, the Royal Perth Yacht Club, represented by the yacht Australia II and its radical winged keel, became the first challenger to break that streak. The cup left American hands for the first time in 132 years, and the world of sailing changed permanently.
Since then, the cup has been held by New Zealand, Switzerland, and briefly the United States again. The 37th edition was defended by Emirates Team New Zealand in Barcelona in 2024. The 38th edition arrives in Italy. For the first time in the competition’s 173-year history, the races will be sailed in Italian waters.
Italy and the America’s Cup: a story 40 years in the making
Azzurra and the beginning of Italian sailing passion
Italy’s history in the America’s Cup began in 1983, the same year Australia ended America’s dominance. Azzurra, backed by figures including Gianni Agnelli and the Aga Khan and representing the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, made an extraordinary debut in Newport, Rhode Island, reaching the semifinals of the Louis Vuitton Cup and turning Italian sailing from a niche interest into a national conversation. Overnight, the sport moved from the back pages to the front pages of Italian newspapers.
What followed was a decades-long Italian pursuit. In 1987, two Italian syndicates competed simultaneously. In 1992, Raul Gardini’s Il Moro di Venezia became the first Italian challenger to reach the America’s Cup Match itself, losing to Bill Koch’s America3 defender. Italy reached the final two more times, in 2000 and 2021, under Luna Rossa’s Patrizio Bertelli, each time falling just short. The 2021 edition in Auckland, where Luna Rossa reached the Match only to face Emirates Team New Zealand in the best-of-thirteen final, was the closest Italy has come. They have been building toward Naples ever since.
Luna Rossa: Italy’s greatest sailing story
Luna Rossa is more than a sailing team. It represents Italian design philosophy, technical obsession, competitive spirit, and the particular kind of elegance that Italian sport at its best embodies. Backed by Prada and helmed in 2027 by skipper Max Sirena, the team has accumulated more campaign experience and institutional knowledge than any other Italian challenger in history.
Racing in the Bay of Naples, in front of the Italian public, with Vesuvius behind them and the islands of Capri and Ischia framing the horizon: it is the scenario every member of the Luna Rossa team has been imagining since the 2027 host city was announced. Grant Dalton, CEO of defending champion Emirates Team New Zealand, acknowledged the weight of the setting directly: coming to Naples to defend the cup, he said, feels like entering the lion’s den.
Naples has already proven itself
This is not Naples’s first time hosting America’s Cup racing. In 2012 and 2013, in the lead-up to the 34th America’s Cup in San Francisco, Naples hosted two America’s Cup World Series events. Local officials estimated that more than one million people came out to watch the racing from the Naples waterfront across those week-long events. The city demonstrated its capacity for the spectacle, its passion for the sport, and its ability to create a festival atmosphere around the competition. In 2027, it gets to keep the whole thing.
The full calendar: from 2026 to race day 2027
The 38th America’s Cup does not begin in July 2027. It begins now, with a series of Preliminary Regattas that offer the first real competitive preview of each team’s speed and preparation.
| Event | Location | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Preliminary Regatta (AC40) | Cagliari, Sardinia | May 21–24, 2026 |
| 2nd Preliminary Regatta (AC40) | Naples | September 24–27, 2026 |
| 3rd Preliminary Regatta (AC40) | Naples | Spring 2027 (TBC) |
| Louis Vuitton Cup — Challenger Selection Series | Naples | Spring/Summer 2027 (TBC) |
| Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Match | Naples | From July 10, 2027 |
The Preliminary Regattas are sailed in AC40 foiling monohulls. Each team may enter two boats: one with their core sailing squad, one crewed by their Youth and Women’s teams. The format does not affect the final standings of the America’s Cup Match, but it is where the early dynamics of the campaign become visible.
The Louis Vuitton Cup, officially the Challenger Selection Series, determines which challenger earns the right to face the defender in the final. The famous saying in the sport is precise: to win the America’s Cup, you first must win the Louis Vuitton Cup.
The teams: who will race in the Bay of Naples
Back-to-back defending champions. Won in Auckland 2021 and Barcelona 2024. Arrive in Naples as the team to beat, fully aware they are entering hostile territory.
Home-water advantage, deep campaign experience, and the full backing of the Italian public. The early favorite in Italian eyes, and a genuine contender by any measure.
Led by Sir Ben Ainslie. Finished as runners-up in the 2024 Louis Vuitton Cup. Arrive in Naples with momentum and unfinished business.
Two-time America’s Cup winners (2003, 2007). Return under the Tudor banner with renewed ambition and historical pedigree.
France’s continued investment in the competition. Additional entries may still be confirmed before the competition opens.
The boats: what makes the AC75 unlike anything else on water
For anyone planning to watch the 2027 races in Naples, understanding what the AC75 actually is changes the experience completely. These are not sailing boats in any conventional sense.
A vessel that flies
The AC75 is a 75-foot foiling monohull that lifts completely out of the water on carbon hydrofoil arms and reaches speeds that exceed 50 knots, roughly 90 kilometers per hour. The boat operates in two entirely different modes: waterborne while accelerating through the low-speed transition zone, then fully airborne on the foils once it crosses the 12-to-14-knot threshold. The transition between the two states takes seconds. At racing speed, the hull clears the surface entirely, supported only by the T-foil arms cutting through the water below.
The AC75 was designed jointly by Emirates Team New Zealand and Luna Rossa as a return to monohull racing after two editions of high-speed catamaran competition. The goal was a boat that combined the spectacle of foiling technology with the tactical complexity of match racing. The result is, depending on your point of view, an engineering marvel or a philosophical rupture with traditional sailing, and most likely both at once.
What this means from a spectator boat
When you watch an AC75 from a private vessel in the Bay of Naples, what you see is not what you expect from a sailing race. The boats appear to skim across the top of the water rather than through it, generating almost no wake and very little spray at full speed. The sound is dominated by the wind in the rig rather than by the hull. The acceleration out of a tack is violent and almost instantaneous.
The Bay of Naples provides a setting that no previous America’s Cup venue has matched for visual drama. The racecourse runs close to the waterfront, which means shore-based crowds can follow the boats clearly. From a private vessel in the designated spectator zones, the combination of the racing, the volcanic landscape, and the Mediterranean light produces something that photographs struggle to capture and that stays with anyone who sees it.
The venue: how Naples is transforming for 2027
Bagnoli: from industrial wasteland to sailing headquarters
The operational heart of the 38th America’s Cup will be Bagnoli, a neighborhood on the western seafront of Naples that spent much of the twentieth century as a heavy industrial zone and most of the last thirty years abandoned. The America’s Cup is the direct catalyst for one of the most significant urban regeneration projects in Southern Italy in recent memory.
The plans for Bagnoli include world-class technical facilities for the AC75 syndicates, a full superyacht marina sheltered by an extended breakwater, a dedicated Women and Youth base for AC40 operations, an AC Tech Fan Zone with giant screens and interactive exhibitions, and an extensive food and retail village accessible to the public. Construction is already underway, with the first team bases scheduled to be operational by mid-2026.
The Race Village on the Caracciolo waterfront
Beyond Bagnoli, the event will extend into the heart of the city. Viale Francesco Caracciolo, the iconic seafront boulevard that runs along the Chiaia district, will be converted into a sprawling Race Village for the duration of the competition. The village will host the main stage for trophy ceremonies and official events, alongside hospitality suites, brand activations, bars, and restaurants open to the public.
The racecourse and its conditions
The Bay of Naples offers racing conditions that experienced sailors describe as close to ideal for the AC75 class. Steady sea breezes funnel through the bay from the southwest, creating consistent pressure during the midday and afternoon racing windows. The close-to-shore layout of the course means the racing will be visible from both the waterfront and from vessels in the designated spectator zones. With Vesuvius behind the fleet and Capri and Ischia framing the horizon, the visual backdrop is unlike anything the competition has seen in its history.
How to watch the races: your options
From the shore
The Race Village along Viale Caracciolo and the AC Tech Fan Zone at Bagnoli offer public viewing with large screens, food, and hospitality. Arrive early on race days: the best shoreside positions go quickly.
From the water
Registration is required for private vessels in designated spectator zones. From a boat at water level, the size, speed, and precision of the AC75s becomes comprehensible in a way no screen can convey.
Online
The America’s Cup YouTube channel streams every event free for viewers in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and most YouTube territories. Official social channels provide real-time updates.
For guests already planning a private boat from Naples during the summer of 2027, combining race days with exploration of the gulf — Capri, Ischia, Procida, the Amalfi Coast — is the most complete way to experience both the event and the region.
Why 2027 will be a defining moment for Naples and the gulf
Estimated long-term economic impact
Expected visitors
Jobs created (temporary and permanent)
Direct tourist spending
Source: Italian Ministry of Tourism / Luiss Business School study, 2025.
Naples was also named European Capital of Sport for 2026, a designation that precedes the Cup and reinforces the city’s shift toward international sporting events as part of its long-term identity. The regeneration of Bagnoli, the Caracciolo Race Village, the superyacht marina, the team base infrastructure: all of it will remain after the last race is sailed and the trophy moves on to its next host city.
For travelers planning a visit to the Gulf of Naples, whether to watch the racing, to use the energy of the event as a backdrop for a longer southern Italy trip, or simply to be in the region during a summer when the eyes of the sailing world are fixed on this stretch of water, 2027 is a genuinely rare opportunity. The Bay of Naples is one of the most historically resonant bodies of water in the Mediterranean. In July 2027, it will also be the most watched.
Frequently asked questions about the America’s Cup 2027 in Naples
The Louis Vuitton America’s Cup Match is scheduled to begin on July 10, 2027 in Naples. The Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger Selection Series runs in the weeks prior. A Preliminary Regatta in Naples is also confirmed for September 24 to 27, 2026.
The racecourse is in the Bay of Naples, positioned close to the waterfront. Team bases and the primary technical infrastructure will be in Bagnoli. The Race Village for public events will be along Viale Francesco Caracciolo in the Chiaia district. Both areas are accessible by public transport from the Naples city center.
The confirmed teams are Emirates Team New Zealand (Defender), Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli (Italy), GB1/Athena Racing (United Kingdom, Challenger of Record), Tudor Team Alinghi (Switzerland), and K-Challenge (France). Additional entries may be confirmed before the competition opens.
The AC75 is a 75-foot foiling monohull that lifts completely out of the water on carbon hydrofoil arms and races at speeds exceeding 50 knots, roughly equivalent to highway speed. It is widely considered the fastest monohull racing boat ever built.
Yes. Registration will be required for private vessels wishing to access designated spectator viewing zones. Details will be published by the America’s Cup organization at americascup.com ahead of the event. Watching from a private boat provides a perspective on the racing that no shoreside position can match.
Luna Rossa enter with home-water advantage, a well-funded campaign infrastructure, and the backing of one of Italy’s most powerful fashion and industrial groups. Emirates Team New Zealand arrive as back-to-back defending champions. Most observers consider both teams among the strongest contenders.
Naples is expected to produce a comparably intense atmosphere, with the added dimension of Luna Rossa racing at home in Italy for the first time. The Bay of Naples offers a tighter, more visible racecourse than Barcelona, with the volcanic landscape providing a backdrop that most observers consider more dramatic.
